Peaceful use of nuclear materials, the EU updates the rules to improve the surveillance system

The Council of the European Union has approved the revision of EURATOM Regulation 302/2005 concerning the application of EURATOM safeguards, i.e. the surveillance system of nuclear materials aimed at ensuring their peaceful use and control.

The Regulation, valid for all Member States of the Community, establishes the requirements that govern the transmission to the Commission, by operators, of information and data concerning the materials and the installations where they are held.

The main changes introduced focus mainly on clarifying the administrative burdens on holders of nuclear materials by introducing a gradual approach that aims to differentiate the obligations to which facilities holding significant quantities of nuclear materials are subject compared to those holding small quantities.
The new regulation aligns itself with technological progress and developments in the nuclear sector, introducing measures relating to the control of nuclear safety in all phases of a plant's life, from the initial planning and design phases (safeguards by design), to the spent fuel disposal and radioactive waste management phases.

In our country, art. 44 of Legislative Decree no. 101/2020 establishes, at the expense of the holders, the methods of keeping the accounts of nuclear materials and of transmitting the information to the ISIN through the STRIMS platform (Traceability System for Waste, Materials and Sources). STRIMS, managed by ISIN itself, collects this information, constituting the database of the holders.
The Inspectorate also carries out supervisory actions on the information transmitted by the holders and on the installations in which the nuclear materials are held.
The new European rules, approved by the Council of the European Union on 18 February, will enter into force 20 days after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU and will be directly applicable in all Member States. The Commission will develop guidelines to help traders comply with the obligations arising from the new rules and will evaluate their application 10 years after their entry into force.